THE US secretary of state has issued the Obama administration’s harshest warning yet to Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.
“We are deeply concerned about the use of violence by Egyptian police and security forces against protesters,” Hillary Clinton said yesterday. “We call on the Egyptian government to do everything in its power to restrain the security forces.”
As Mrs Clinton spoke, President Barack Obama was locked in a series of meetings with security advisers on the Egyptian crisis.
The administration had earlier maintained an even tone towards the Mubarak regime and demonstrators.
Mrs Clinton’s four-paragraph statement yesterday was chiefly addressed to the authorities, with only the mild admonishment that “protesters should also refrain from violence and express themselves peacefully”.
Mrs Clinton’s statement was both a defence of “the universal human rights of the Egyptian people, including the right to freedom of expression, of association and of assembly” and a critique of the government, which she urged “to allow peaceful protests and to reverse the unprecedented steps it has taken to cut off communications”.
Internet and mobile phone connections were cut in Egypt yesterday, including servers for the Egyptian government’s sites and the US embassy in Cairo.
Robert Gibbs, President Obama’s press secretary, said on Twitter that the “government must respect the rights of the Egyptian people turn on social networking and internet”.
“There are deep grievances within Egyptian society,” Mrs Clinton said. “The Egyptian government needs to understand that violence will not make these grievances go away.”
On Thursday, Mr Obama said it was “very important that people have mechanisms in order to express legitimate grievances”.
He noted that Mr Mubarak had been “helpful on a range of issues in the Middle East” but added that he repeatedly told the Egyptian president that “making sure they are moving forward on reform – economic reform, political reform – is absolutely critical to the long-term well-being of Egypt.”
Mrs Clinton strengthened President Obama’s call for reforms, saying they must begin “immediately”.
As violence escalated in Egypt yesterday, vice president Joe Biden was criticised for remarks he made on Thursday evening.
Mr Biden said Mr Mubarak was not a dictator and that it was not time for him to stand down. “Mr Mubarak has been an ally of ours in a number of things . . . I would not refer to him as a dictator,” Mr Biden said.
Mrs Clinton’s statement yesterday did not mention Mr Mubarak by name.
Arab leaders “need to view civil society as their partner, not as a threat”, she said.